Ninth grader Arun Kumar Yadav from Chandigarh !!!One month and nearly two lakh entries (from over 60 cities in India!) later,we finally have this year’s India Doodle 4 Google (D4G) winner! 9th grader Arun Kumar Yadav’s doodle will be featured on the Google India homepage on November 14 to celebrate Children’s Day.The finale was held on the 12th of Nov against the iconic backdrop of the National Rail Museum in Delhi which is home to one of the world’s oldest operational steam locomotive. Kids not only enjoyed rides on small toy trains but were treated to a unique Google experience as they gathered around to crown and cheer the winners. Check out some pictures from the event on our Google India + page event to see all the fun they had!

The winning doodle by Arun Kumar Yadav, from Kendriya Vidyalaya in Chandigarh, imbibes this year’s theme ‘Unity in Diversity’ creatively, with his doodle titled ‘India - A Prism ofMultiplicity’. His doodle reflects India’s vibrant diversity bound together by its unity; and showcases, India's diverse cultures, religions, languages, customs and traditions. As an award for his out-of-the-box thinking, Arun's doodle will also be featured on a special colour pack and drawing book by Classmate. All the finalists will receive a Google Goodie bag and a Samsung Android tablet.Sanskruti School of Fine Arts, College of Arts, Delhi University, National Institute of Fine Arts and Delhi College of Art were part of the shortlisting process. All the entries were evaluated on the criteria of artistic merit, creativity, concept and the supporting statement.This year’s jury – reputed actor Boman Irani and political cartoonist Ajit Ninan – had a mammoth task at hand; first, to shortlist from the record-breaking submissions received, and then to choose the national winner and regional winners from across the nation, with each piece of art as competitive as the other. The final 13 doodles, chosen by them, were exhibited to you for online voting to choose the final winner.Here’s a look at the category/regional winners, chosen for the first time in the history of D4G in India:Group 1: Vasudevan Deepak - Devgiri CMI Public School - CalicutGroup 2: Shravya Manjunath - Mitra Academy - BangaloreGroup 3: S. Preetham Paul - Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, T.P.T. Branch - Vishakhapatnam

Thanks to all of you who voted and helped us select this year’s winner. And a bigger thank you to the students and parents from across India who submitted entries, and helped us break participation record for this initiative. We’ll be back in 2013; till then, keep doodling. Who knows, your child could be the next winner!